History & Chronicle: Romantic ballads around Kep by the famous journalist Jean Bertolino

Ballades romantiques autour de Kep is a text written by the famous Jean Bertolino ( 52 sur la une ) recounting the travels and impressions of his last stay in Cambodia, the country where he started out as a journalist. Of course, the writing is jubilant, pleasant and full of the talent of this storyteller, with whom we would love to sit down and hear him tell us: ‘Say, what was Cambodia like before?

Bullets and shells riddled the façades of the two buildings, which looked a sorry sight once the battle was over. Today, the old casino is still standing, but empty. It reminds us of the hotel where the film Shining with Jack Nicolson was shot. When we visited it, we too had flashbacks, fleeting visions of the good old days when the elegant women of Phnom Penh, and even Saigon, accompanied by their opulent husbands, came to relax in this magical place, which is now sinister.

We can easily imagine the beautiful limousines of yesteryear parked in the garden lanes, the tinkling of crystal glasses in the lounges and bar, the crowds tense around the roulette wheel, and the croupier's voice calling ‘Place your bets. All bets are in. All bets are off! ’

And if you listened carefully, you could almost hear the crackling of the marble and its hesitations before coming to a complete stop. It's amazing how a derelict place that was once famous can excite inventiveness and still seem inhabited by the ghosts of those who frequented it.

The joyful cries of children playing hide-and-seek in the maze of deserted rooms jolt us out of our escape into the past. Their voices vibrate strangely, and to hear their spectral resonance you might almost think that they too are not real, that they come from another world... And yet, no. They belong here. A few steps away, the old abandoned church could almost be mistaken for a church lost in the mountains of France, were it not for the tropical plants that surround it and, just over the ridge behind it, the breathtaking view of the Khmer coast 1,000 metres below.

A crucifix above the altar and a statue of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin once again inhabit this place of prayer, having been ruthlessly evicted by its last occupants. It would appear that the casino built in the 60s under Prince Sihanouk is in the process of being restored, but this time it will have to face competition from a monumental and hideous Chinese-style gambling establishment of the kind that flourishes elsewhere in Cambodia and northern Thailand.

‘Flashy buildings are springing up everywhere. A pharaonic project has just been launched to build luxury hotels, golf courses, a colossal resort and holiday residences for the region's new rich’.

So no more romantic reminiscences or outdated fashions! Tomorrow we'll have wiped the slate clean and there'll be no room for discreet charm or nostalgia. The game is up! This morning we went to the market-garden area of Kampot to visit, hidden in the heart of a cave, a small brick temple dating from the Indianised kingdom of Founan, whose heyday was in the 5th century. This was probably the very first Khmer kingdom, well before the Angkorian empire, which wrote in Sanskrit on its monuments. According to coins and pottery found at certain sites, Founan traded with the Roman Empire. Very little remains of this civilisation. That's why it was so moving to contemplate this small temple hidden in the darkness of a cave that has preserved it from the ravages of time. This afternoon, lazing on the beach at Kep. Tomorrow we return to Phnom Penh with, as the last image of our stay, a little girl playing with soap bubbles that explode almost as quickly as they appear and are immediately replaced. What's a hundred years, what's a thousand, when a single moment erases them all?

Jean Bertolino